Campaign contributions

This chart shows how many candidates ran for state senate in Utah in past years and the cumulative amount of dollars raised in state senate races, including contributions in both primary and general election contests. All figures come from Follow The Money.[1]

Year

Number of candidates

Total contributions

2010

39

$1,612,394

2008

71

$2,432,680

2006

60

$2,241,882

2004

71

$1,336,110

2002

34

$935,931

In 2010, the candidates for state senate raised a total of $1,612,394 in campaign contributions. The top 10 donors were: [2]

Donor

Amount

Utah Association of Realtors

$84,000

Senate Republican Campaign Cmte of Utah

$83,315

2006 Mayne Candidate Account

$60,248

Utah State Senate Democrats

$46,000

Sorensen, Beverly T

$39,500

Utah Republican Party

$37,453

Comcast

$32,050

Reagan Outdoor Advertising

$31,487

Workers Compensation Fund of Utah

$30,950

Consumer Lending Alliance

$25,500

Incumbency

Unopposed incumbents

All incumbents (100%) faced competition in the November 2 general election.

Primary challenges

Only 3 incumbents (21.4%) faced competition in the June 22 primary. No incumbents lost to their challengers in the primary election.

Retiring incumbents

One incumbent representative did not run for re-election, while 14 (93%) ran for re-election. The one incumbent that did not run for re-election is a Republican:

A resident for 6 months of the senate district from which elected at the filing deadline time

No person holding any public office of profit or trust under authority of the United States, or of this State, can be a member of the state senate, provided, that appointments in the State Militia, and the offices of notary public, justice of the peace, United States commissioner, and postmaster of the fourth class, shall not, within the meaning of this section, be considered offices of profit or trust.

A qualified voter. A qualified voter is someone who is:

* A U.S. citizen

* A resident of Utah for at least 30 days prior to the next election

* At least 18 years old by the next election

* His or her principal place of residence is in a specific voting precinct in Utah.

Filing fee

Any person intending to run for a seat in the Utah Senate must file a declaration of candidacy with the county clerk's office of the county in which he or she resides or with the Office of Lieutenant Governor of Utah.

Candidates must pay a filing fee. The fee is 1/8 of 1% of the total salary for the full term of office legally paid to the person holding the office. For a state senator, this amounts to $26.30.

List of candidates

Partisan dominance in state senates heading into the 2010 state legislative elections

District 2

Note: Scott McCoy occupied the District 2 senate seat until his resignation in December 2009.[4]